Gold turns up from seven-week low as U.S. dollar pares gains

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold on Tuesday rose above a seven-week low as the U.S. dollar came off its highs.

1 kg. gold bars are seen on a production line in Ahlatci Metal Refinery in the central Anatolian city of Corum, Turkey, May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Bullion was pressured earlier by strong U.S. economic data that reinforced expectations of another U.S. interest rate increase this year and pushed the dollar and U.S. bond yields higher. .DXY US10YT=RR [FRX] [US/]

Spot gold XAU= was up 0.1 percent at $1,272.04 per ounce by 3:13 p.m. EDT (1913 GMT), after the dollar flattened and U.S. bond yields eased from earlier highs.

Gold had earlier touched $1,267.76, its lowest since Aug. 15 and down more than 6 percent from a one-year high of $1,357.54 in early September.

“The speculators don’t want to take it below key levels, because of uncertainty of the next Fed chair and how inflation will play out after a potential December hike,” said Ryan McKay, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, referring to the modest rebound in gold prices.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for December delivery settled down $1.20, or 0.1 percent, at $1,274.60 per ounce, after hitting the lowest in nearly a month at $1,271.

The CME’s Fedwatch indicator showed markets were pricing in a 77 percent likelihood of a December rate rise after Monday’s data showed a surge in U.S. manufacturing activity.

U.S. and world stocks also rose to records as a positive global growth outlook encouraged investment in riskier assets. [MKTS/GLOB] .N

A strong dollar typically makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, while higher bond yields reduce the appeal of non-yielding gold.

“The factors that pushed gold towards $1,360 in early September are now reversing,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said.

Menke said he expected a strengthening dollar and normalization of speculative positioning to push gold to $1,200 an ounce by the end of the year.

Prices had also been supported by purchases of physical gold by bullion-backed exchange-traded funds. But ETF holdings tracked by Reuters dropped between Friday and Monday by the most since late July. HLDTOTALL=XAU

Silver XAG= was up 0.4 percent at $16.60 an ounce but still near its lowest since Aug. 9.

Platinum XPT= was up 0.2 percent at $912.40 per ounce, after dipping to $902.40, the lowest since July 14.

Palladium XPD= was up 0.8 percent at $916.60 per ounce, after hitting a two-week low at $904.00. It earlier slipped below platinum after reaching price parity for the first time in 16 years last week.

Additional reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru. Editing by David Evans, Greg Mahlich and Steve Orlofsky